To Sudan, court is criminal

International legal body trying to indict leader on genocide, war crimes is dismissed

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Sudanese officials on Friday largely shrugged off news that the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor is seeking the arrest of the country's president for genocide and crimes against humanity, reiterating their rejection of the court's authority.

Officials discounted fears that Sudan would retaliate against UN peacekeepers and aid workers but warned that the action would disrupt peace efforts and unite Sudanese citizens against outside meddling.

The ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, plans Monday to ask judges to issue arrest warrants for President Omar al-Bashir on allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity for systematic killings in Sudan's western Darfur region since 2003.

Sudan, which is not a party to the ICC, has ignored indictments against one other official and a rebel leader and is expected to brush off Monday's action against the president.

"We've been expecting this," said Ali Sadiq, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.

The government has maintained a fierce defiance of the ICC, even threatening to try Moreno-Ocampo in a Sudanese court for "terrorism" after he tried to apprehend and arrest Sudanese State Minister Ahmed Haroun, one of the people facing an ICC warrant, as he was about to go on a trip to Saudi Arabia. Haroun abandoned the journey.

On Friday, a spokesman for the president, Mahjoub Fadul Badry, again called the prosecutor a "terrorist," saying his investigation is based on biased testimony from rebel leaders, The Associated Press reported. Badry said the government would not hand over any suspects, even rebel leaders.

"It will jeopardize this effort and jeopardize peace in Sudan and the whole region," he said. "To indict a head of state will create chaos."

He dismissed fears expressed by the UN and aid groups that the government might retaliate against them, despite recent attacks on humanitarian workers and peacekeepers. Sadiq said that the United Nations should fear hostilities from rebel groups emboldened by the ICC move, not the Sudanese army or allied militias.

Sadiq predicted that Sudanese citizens would rally against the ICC move. It is uncertain, however, that a warrant will be issued. A panel of ICC judges must hear the prosecutor's presentation then decide whether to proceed. That process could take two to three months.

But political analysts said the warrants could weaken Bashir's power and damage the country's international reputation.

"If people see that the government itself could be indicted and brought to justice, they won't respect those in power," said Adam Azzain Mohammed, University of Khartoum's Institute for the Studies of Public Administration and Federal Governance.

Court experts said the benefits posed by issuing warrants could outweigh the risks.

"If the prosecutor requests an arrest warrant against the president of Sudan for genocide or crimes against humanity or both, it will a huge step in limiting the impunity for horrific acts committed against innocent people in Darfur," Richard Dicker, director of the international justice program for Human Rights Watch, told AP.

"It would send the message that no one is above the law for these kinds of crimes including a sitting president," Dicker said.

An indictment of Bashir would mark the first time the ICC has charged a sitting head of state with war crimes.

But there is precedent: Other UN-created international tribunals charged Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Liberian President Charles Taylor with war crimes while they were still in office.

Milosevic died in his cell in March 2006, shortly before the end of his genocide trial. Taylor is currently on trial in The Hague for crimes against humanity.